School of St. Mary

With three children currently enrolled in Sheridan school, I find we are continually impressed with the curriculum, teacher enthusiasm, effective teaching strategies, student to teacher ratio and parent involvement. Sheridan highly encourages active involvement from families and regularly keeps us apprised of student progress. There is a tangible commitment to the social, academic and civic development of the children at Sheridan.

I have been to 8 different schools, and this is by far the worst experience I have ever had. The kids are all mean and stuck up, and the teachers don't care. The counselors go out of their way to spread your private information. They are very liberal and I wasn't comfortable with boys who claimed to be girls in my bathroom. I say this because I had a boy come into the bathroom to look under stalls and this wasn't just one child. I went here for 6th and 7th grade and have never been more uncomfortable, violated, or exposed by the teachers and students.

After researching many school options across the country, our family has chosen to live in the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff area specifically so that our children can attend Forest Bluff School.No other school “gets it” quite like Forest Bluff - their methods may seem old school in our ultra-high-tech society, but these methods are in fact timeless, and they have been proven again and again to be what is optimal for a child at each stage of development. If you are willing to follow the approach at home and take advantage of the many resources that the school provides (blog posts, book discussions, hand-outs, parent events, classroom visits, toy and activity recommendations - the list goes on and on), then your child will almost certainly be successful there.Today, during a classroom visit, I was astounded as I watched my 3-year-old tie her own shoe (we have never worked on this with her at home). She has also begun reading, doing basic math, and she has learned tools for handling peer social situations in a courteous and effective way. Most importantly (to us), she is excited to go to school each morning, and she genuinely loves her teachers and classmates.We are thrilled to have found such a special school and community, and we sincerely hope that others will consider giving their children the gift of a Forest Bluff education.

Recent administrative changes have resulted in great improvement of the district overall. The district's Covid-response plan was the best of any district in the area. The new Director of Student Services is a huge improvement from the previous administrator. Some educational programming definitely needs to be updated, but overall this district is moving in a positive direction.